Skepticism vs. All The Other Kinds of Skeptoism

While we do have skepti-bunkies, skeptoid, etc. that seems to offend those that wear those shoes (tough) and confuse some others.

I like Colin Bennett’s chronic and cultural skepticism terms, but that may be too esoteric.

Whatever term you use, and I’ll probably keep on using various forms of rabid-pathological-fundie myself, the point is: there is skepticism, and then there’s something else entirely hiding behind the goodly term of skepticism.

When it comes to UFOs, it’s not that I’m skeptical. As I’ve asked in the past, skeptical of what, exactly? That UFOs exist? Of course I’m not skeptical. That’d be stupid.

It’s illogical, and, well, pathological to hold yourself up proudly as a “skeptic’” and state that you “don’t believe UFOs exist.”

UFOs exist. People see them all the time. Whatever in the world is there to dispute, dahlings?

Personal interpretations of what those UFOs are, now, that’s a different matter. And stating, as fact, that they’re aliens from Mars, is not one bit skeptical. To be skeptical that UFOs are from other planets is a good and true thing.

This doesn't mean, however, that they couldn’t be from Mars. It’s possible. And in my opinion, it’s very likely they are. Or from somewhere. I suspect they are, and that’s my opinion. It’s not a fact, for no one knows. (Well, possibly “they” know, you know, “them” -- but they’re not telling.)

As much as I respect and admire Stanton Friedman, and I do, I am skeptical of the veracity of MJ-12. I think he has been the ongoing target of a disinformation campaign, but I could be wrong. I hope I am. But the history of the source, or his leads, and of UFO disinfo itself, causes me to be skeptical.

Surprising as it may be to the anti-UFO “skeptic” there are skeptics within genuine UFOlogy as well. I remember many years ago, when I was involved in a local UFO study group. I voiced my opinion on abductions; how I think much of that is staged “MILAB’ stuff. I was almost run out of town on a rail. One person told me he didn’t want to be around me; he couldn’t bring himself to associate with someone like me who was “that paranoid.”

At a local UFO conference once, I was disinvited to speak, because I was too “negative.” My message? Beware the messenger. Too “negative” and they wanted to keep things upbeat. Christ, you would have thought I was talking about the Reptilian Overlords and vats of human body parts in Dulce from the way the conference facilitator carried on.

Anyway, I could go on and on, and I will at some point. Meantime, just know that there are those out there who are no mere skeptics, but a completely different breed altogether, wit no only a bias, but an agenda. There are levels and varieties to these types of course, from the hapless dupes who gladly grab onto the latest meme of anti-UFOism, to the intentional disinformation agents who put the latest anti-UFO meme out there for the dupes to pick up, gossip over, and pass along. There are the debunkers, and the pathological, the rabid, the irrational rationalists. There are the ones with the big egos who pride themselves on being educated and intelligent -- as they never fail to tell the rest of us , implying that many of us are not -- and carve out a niche for themselves as skeptics. Finally -- and this is based on my personal experience and observation -- those who are given to sarcasm and sneering ‘tudes, just for its own sake , seem to gravitate to the rabid skeptic side.

There are also those who I find particularly intriguing, though at the same time unctuous and nauseating, and that’s the mega-rabid anti-UFOist. So obsessed they are! They despise UFos, UFOlogy, UFO experiencers, UFO witnesses, UFO researchers, UFO “enthusiasts” so much, they write virtually daily on UFOlogy, and why it’s bad, evil, silly, stupid, dangerous, sad, pathetic, a waste of time. Why, they even lie at times! I know, it’s positively astonishing, isn’t it?

One thing I’ve noticed about “skeptics” and UFO people -- and of course this is a generalization, based on nothing but observation - but it seems that the anti type of skeptic isn’t questioning. Unless, of course, they’re calling into question one’s sanity, character, and innate state of truthfulness. Compare that to the questioning of the UFO witness, or researcher. Most of us are doing nothing but questioning. The “true ‘bleevers” aside, most of us question quite a lot, while the fundie/rabid/pathological etc. “skeptic” does not. They believe there is nothing to question. They’re far from any honest, open “inquiry” they’re about denial, derision, and even a sort of cultural cleansing. Rid the world of “woo” -- in this case, flying saucer woo -- and let the questioning end, seems to be the goal.

6 comments:

I completely agree with your assessment that the real question is "What are UFOs?". It also applies to the situation where people say they have seen an unknown animal or ghost. Something has happened to them. But, if we try to find out what, they may be disappointed if we say it likely has a mundane explanation when they really wanted it to be a special (paranormal) event. Then they don't believe it.

The true approach should be one of allowing the evidence to dictate the explanation. Science means making every effort to remove the subjective view to only allow an objective view. That kind of eliminates personal (emotional) anecdotes as evidence. Without that, a lot of paranormal foundation disappears and we are left with little to study and judge as evidence.

I hope I am practicing a skepticism that is objective and fair. If you want more on my views, see my blog. I do have a post regarding "blobjects" as evidence that touches on these above points as well as blurfos, blobsquatches, etc. It is here.http://idoubtit.wordpress.com/

Don't let the name fool you. I may be doubtful, but I don't debunk. And I'm certainly not rabid about it (except maybe about Sylvia Browne...)

Nicely said! There certainly are two kinds of skeptics, and I think classifying each of them separately is the only way to move forward without having this discussion ad nauseum forever.

It is funny how many people are discussing it recently. I was planning on blogging about it when I saw your previous post and that got me going. I had no idea about Greg and Nick's posts at the time. Then just today I saw a similar post on "The Paranormal Blog" as well. Synchronicity and all, I guess.

Some people just prefer to bury their heads in the sand and pretend nothing outside of their comfort zone is really happening out there.

One small item of correction, Tonnies' essay isn't on Wikipedia, it's on the "Leaves of Wisdom" which is a wiki-based resource that we put together(and are constantly updating with interesting info) at Book of THoTH.

"There's an old saying; just because you're paranoid, that doesn't mean they're not out to get you. I have my own variation: just because you're insane that doesn't mean that things aren't slipping in unnoticed through dimensional gateways..." ~ Christopher Knowles

Why the name Orange Orb?

I have had many UFO sightings and experiences, which began in childhood. One sighting in particular was dramatic enough -- it was the one that started me on this path -- and was the inspiration for the title of this blog:

In the 1980s I and my husband observed a craft, lit from within. It appeared to follow us for some time; it, in fact, appeared to be waiting for us and responded to my thoughts. It was intelligent; intelligently controlled. Whether that control came from within or without, I don't know. I don't know if the orb itself was sentient (I had a feeling it was, somehow) or the orb was just a tool used by other entities. Possibly those entities were human; that I don't know. Missing time accompanied this sighting, as did dreams that followed that were very scary -- so much so I sought out a therapist to deal with the severe anxiety caused by the dreams. The dreams:

I'm standing in a brilliant beam of white light, so blinding I can almost see through things. I can't move, no matter how hard I try, and I am trying with every single cell, every nerve, all my will, but no use. Above me is something metallic, dome or round shaped, covering much of the sky. I am furious for my husband is up there, and I demand of "them" to tell me where he is, let me see him, and, answers! I want answers! But they don't care, and keep me frozen inside this beam.

I have written about my UFO experiences at length on-line and in print, and have discussed it on various podcasts. Sites like UFO Magazine, UFO Digest, Future Theater's podcast with Bill and Nancy Birnes, and my blog Saucer Sightings, among others, contain more about the "orange orb" sighting.

Despite Imbrogno's "scandal" -- he lied about his credtionals -- his ideas are worth considering. While not new ideas at all, they are still considered fringe by many inside the fringe itself. No, I'm not condoning Imbrogno's lies, I'm s...

Subscribe To

Followers

Follow Me on Twitter

Search The Orb

Alien Casebook Fringe

Terrence Mckenna on UFOs and Science and God and . . .

Heeling Free

Eugene to Corvallis area; dog training

James Rich, Fine Art

"At the Window" by James Rich

UFO Digest

You Are Astute Visitor Number:

Blog Archive

CREATIVE COMMONS

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
FAIR USE
FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This website distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107.